Happy Birthday, Brenda!!!

My dear friend, Brenda, just had her birthday, and this is the card that I made her!  I used a dark brown card base and liked the inside with white cardstock.  I punched the edge and then inked it using SU Early Espresso.  Next, I cut a green mat and wrapped some gorgeous "pink sorbet" bakers twine from The Twinery around the card five times (taping in the back).
I cut a "pocket" from pink cardstock and stamped a filigre pattern on it with SU Pixie Pink, then glued down.  I then added bling to strategic points across the pocket. and cut a piece of white cardstock to fit inside the pocket.  I rounded the corners of the white paper, inked the edges, and stamped a lighter pink background, using the same filigre pattern.  I stamped and punched a tab, using the SU tab punch and pink zebra paper, then adhered it to the top of the white paper.  I added "happy birthday" in SU Early Espresso, along with several phrases that my friend uses often, from some Pink By Design stamps, in the SU Pixie Pink. 
Finally, I made a cute paper flower using a brad and three patterned papers, which were squares (3x3, 2x2, and 1x1).  I used the torn paper technique and tore each square towards me in a circle.  I then crunched each layer, one-by-one, in my hand until I was satisfied with the dimension of each.  Then I used my paper piercer and mat to punch a hole through the middle and add the brown spiral brad.  I adhered the dimensional flower using glue dots, across the twine.  ~Hoppy Crafting!!!

Pink By Design stamps!

CKC 2011

Scrapbook Survivors around 5pm! (Cindy, Lynda, Terri, Kelly).

Woo whooo!!!  It's finally CKC time!!!  Several friends and I attended the Creating Keepsakes Convention near Seattle yesterday, and had a total blast!  Some of us took classes, while others shopped the vendor faire.  Kelly and I carpooled and spent the ENTIRE DAY at the convention.  We met up with Kate and her sister-in-law.  I also saw friends and fellow crafters Terri and Lynda.  I know our stampin' friend Deb was there, but we were so busy shopping and taking classes, that we never saw her! 

Kate and I took "The latest and greatest with Basic Grey, Simple Stories, and Crate Paper", and enjoyed a FAST-PACED class.  We nearly completed 4 pages, and have extra supplies to finish more.  The rest of the day we shopped, grabbed a little lunch, shopped, shopped, and shopped some more! 

I found some neat stamps at Technique Tuesday and The Stamps of Life.  I enjoyed some make and takes, and shopping at Embellish It and Queen & Co.  I even found some major deals at Scrapbuck and Scrap Mart.  Can you imagine 2 packages of cookie-cutter dies by Quic-Kutz for only $10, total (I saw each clearanced out online for $11 apiece)?   Or, getting 100 yards of grosgrain or sheer ribbon for only $2-$4???  I also got a grab-bag of bling for $2.99, which should last me for quite some time!

If you ever have the chance to go to a scrapbook expo, I definitely would recommend it!  It's a fun day for all, and you may just find a few things that you may not normally find in your LSS (local scrapbook stores).  ~Hoppy Crafting!!!

Gobble, Gobble!

It's turkey time already (well, almost)!  I finally had some open time to really work on a project, and ended up making 20 of these adorable Thanksgiving cards!  I saw a similar turkey a couple of weeks ago at my Stampin' friend, Deb's party, and really wanted to scrap-lift it!  I used quite an array of punches during this project, as well as Twinery twine, my Cricut, Stampin' Up ink, and foam adhesive.  I think it would be easier to put into a list everything I used, so here it goes!  :o)

*Stampin' Up Owl punch (eyes, body)
*Stampin' Up Butterfly punch (feathers & wings-cut in half and apart)
*Stampin' Up 1" Square punch (behind turkeys for support)
*Stampin' Up XL Oval-2" x 1 3/8" punch (behind sentiment)
*Stampin' Up Scallop Oval  punch(for sentiment)
*EK Success Arch Scallop (border)

*EK Success Card Suits (waddle)
*Stampin' Up "Holiday Best" stamp set (sentiment)
*Stampin' Up Pumpkin Pie ink
*Stampin' Up Early Espresso ink
*The Twinery "Lemondrop" twine
*Cricut Savory Cartridge (plates)
*"Party-Celebrate" paper from Fancy Pants Designs (background behind turkeys)
*DCWV textured cardstock (card bases)
*Buttons
*Foam adhesive (pop up sentiment and turkeys)

I punched everything, then assembled each part mass-production style (all hats, all eyes, all turkeys, etc), until every last part was finished and I ended up with 20 pieces of art!  I had to add some humor and put each turkey on a dinner plate, haha!  The only thing I did differently, was how I added the twine.  On some cards, the twine is wrapped several times from left to right.  On others, it is looped behind the top left corners, then threaded through buttons and finished in a bow.  Hope you like these as much as I do!  ~Hoppy Crafting!!!

Turkey Army!!!

It's all about the tools....and how you use them!

Today, I have been diligently working on some Thanksgiving cards.  I saw this super-cute idea while I was at a Stampin' Up party at Deb's, and had to see if I could scrap-lift it!  :o)

As I busily began cutting, punching, scoring, assembling, etc., the tools I was using really started to add up, and I felt like they needed their own post.  It's hard to pick ONE favorite tool, but I would have to say that definitely my MOST USED tool is my guillotine-style paper cutter.  I gave up the notion that one of the "travel" paper cutters would be my best friend a long time ago, especially since I work in a school, and use the guillotine-style ones all the time.  I LOVE them!!!  My husband bought me mine for my birthday,about 9 years ago, and it's heavy-duty and going strong (yes, he looked at me like I was crazy then, and asked if I didn't want something prettier.  LOL)!

Another favorite tool of mine is the Martha Stewart Score Board.  This handy tool allows you to score cards, projects, envelopes, etc. (pretty much anything you want to make), with ease! 

Today, I happened to be using the Stampin' Up Owl and Butterfly punches, along with two other EK Success border punches, a Stampin' Up ink pad with sponge (to add soft brown to the project), the Xyron sticker-maker (adhesive), reverse tweezers, regular wet and dry adhesives, and a white uni-ball pen to add accents.

Because I knew that I was making around 20 of these cards, I rummaged the kitchen, and found my neat square divided tray, so that I could punch, assemble and organize everything instead of having a mess on my table and searching for pieces later.  I would really recommend some kind of tray or divided storage when working on mass-production projects to keep everything where it needs to be. 
Hope you enjoy your tools as much as I do!  Crafting really IS all about the cool tools, even though they rarely get the spotlight. I can't wait to share what all these fun pieces turned into!  :o)  ~Hoppy Crafting!!!

It's for the birds!

Here's another pheasant card using the Stampin' Up "Autumn Days" stamp set.  I used a "fall" colored theme, with yellows, reds, and browns.  The patterned cardstock is from K & Company, which I used an EK Success edger punch to create the notebook page look.
The pheasant is stamped is SU Chocolate Chip, and the leaves in the background are in SU Early Espresso.  I also sponged the scalloped oval with Early Espresso.  I used some gorgeous brown and white twine around a corner-rounded mat.  Finally, I added the pheasant with pop dots, and added bling for it's eye.  ~Hoppy crafting!!!

Happy Birthday, Lisa!

Today is my friend Lisa's birthday, so I made a little card for her.  :o)  I used some pink, brown, and tan cardstock for the base and layers of this card.  I also used the Stampin' Up "Dreams du Jour" set for the sentiment, butterflies on the brown paper, and the "dream" embellishment.  Before adding the top layers, I embossed the tan paper, then spritzed each layer with Tsukineko silver spritzer to add glimmer.  I also used the Fleur de Lis edger punch from EK Success along the top of the faux ribbon.  I popped up the brown faux ribbon, the sentiment, and the embellishment/dangle with foam adhesive, and added light pink ribbon and twine.  Finally, I added color using my Zig markers and sponged the sentiment with SU Early Espresso ink.  ~Hoppy Crafting!

Fall Pheasant

I have a friend whose family it TOTALLY into pheasants.  A stampin' friend of mine graciously allowed me to borrow her Stampin' Up "Autumn Days" stamp set to create some cards, and here's one!  I used the pheasant, wheat, and some light green satin ribbon, along with some fall-themed K&Company paper.  On the fall paper and around the pheasant, I distressed and inked all the edges.  ~Hoppy Crafting!

Trick or Treat!

Happy Halloween!  I made this fun little Halloween card using the Cricut Happy Hauntings cartridge for the jack-o-lantern, the Martha Stewart "Drippy Goo" punch, the "Wavy Circle" punch, and a $$ stamp from a local craft store.  ~Hoppy Crafting!

Birthday Surprises!

Today is my birthday, and I felt very special on this day!  Not only did I have many friends wishing me happy birthday, sending cards and other goodies my way, as well as my students being super excited that yes, their teacher has birthdays, too, but I had some other amazing things happen.  I first noticed something was up, when I walked out my front door this morning to find a green blinged envelope and cupcakes with flowers and numbers heading down my walkway!  The special card told me that I would be receiving quite a few surprises today! 

Each of the gorgeously decorated flowers had a number and a "reason why I am wonderful, exceptional, and so very loved" from my very special friend, Brenda!  I am SO lucky to have such an amazing and thoughtful friend!  She managed to get so many people at my school to randomly deliver and/or "hide" cupcakes in my classroom at random times, that my students and I had to keep our eyes sharp for the next arrival!  Each time we re-entered the room, I would hear shouts of  "I see another cupcake!" or "there it is!".  It was almost a game of "Where's Waldo"! 

Towards the end of our day, I had almost 30 cupcakes with flowers, and it was time to share the cupcakes with my kinders!  They had been "tortured" and "starved for sugar" all day (according to them), and were thrilled that I shared!  (As if I could, or would, eat over 30 cupcakes myself!)  :o) 

Though I LOVED each thoughtful gift, and more than a few made me giggle and almost cry, here are some of my favorite "reasons" on the flowers:  Craft Cave; You love when I sing Disney songs; You can hold it together in front of 25+ midgets; you shake the minds of our future serial murderers; you make amazing fudge (almost as good as Martha, haha!); you nearly always have green toe nails; frogs; you are unbelievably patient; you never give store-bought cards; your cellphone "ribbits"; you're always willing to hear your friends vent...no matter what you have on your plate; you make me feel sane when the rest of the world thinks I am crazy;  and,  you are a craft queen!  ~Hoppy Crafting!

Trick or Treat! Smell my feet.....

I LOVE fall, it's my favorite season of the entire year!  With fall, comes jack-o'-lanterns and other spooky fare for Halloween.  I whipped up these fun treat bags with some very simple ingredients!  I used notepads that I bought from the $ section at our local Ben Franklin's, and put each one in a small cello bag from Stampin' Up.  I used some awesome purple & black, and orange & black striped paper from a scrap stack, which I cut into a couple of different designs using the "oblong" option on the Cricut Elegant Edges cartridge (5.76"), then folded in half and stapled backwards onto the bags. 

Before stapling the paper, I tried using a trick a friend of mine had shared to seal each bag.  I know there's no candy in these bags, but I wanted to try out her trick, and perfect it, sooooo....I warmed up my trusty flat iron (yes, a hair straightener!!!), and lightly crimped the top of a bag.  The first bag was a total disaster!  Even though I only touched it for a split second, my flat iron was OBVIOUSLY too hot!  I unplugged it, and tried again a few seconds later with another bag.  This time it was WAY better!  By the last of the 10 little treat bags, my flat iron was cool enough to simply seal and not make any plastic shrivel.  Yea!

Now, onto the rest of the bags!  After sealing, I finished the stapling (again, reverse stapling so that you can hide all the sharp spots with decorations).  I was ready for a little blood!  No, not REAL blood, but the Martha Stewart Drippy Goo punch has got to be one of my all-time favorite punches!  I adhered a red drippy goo strip to the top of each bag for add some spookiness!

Next, I stamped "Trick Or Treat" using a $ stamp from Michael's.  Then, I punched each out, using the EK Success Wavy Circle punch, and inked each with SU Basic Black.  I also added dimensionals to the back and stuck them on to hide one of the staples. 

Finally, I could focus on the pumpkins!  I used the Happy Hauntings Cricut cartridge, and cut out some ghoulish jack-o-lanterns!  I layered each pumpkin with a green base, then yellow, then an orange glitter paper.  I love how they turned out!  I also love the DCWV glitter paper!  It cuts beautifully in my Cricut, and doesn't leave glitter residue everywhere!  After they were all assembled, I added dimensionals and stuck them onto each topper to hide the other staple.  Now all that's left to do, is to add names, and away they go!  ~Hoppy Crafting!